How Girl Scouting Works

Check out this video which really explains how to make the Girl Scout Leadership Experience come to life with girls.  For more information on planning with girls, check out this past post.

Act Now for Next Year!

Now is the time to being planning for an experience of a lifetime for the girls in your group.  The reason for planning now is to inspire girls to re-register next year, start planning and budgeting in advance for big trips or projects and give plenty of time to execute the plan and achieve the girls’ goals.  

Girls will love to brainstorm ideas for their future troop experiences.  Here’s an easy process to use with girls to get you going:

Materials Needed:

• Large paper to visually record the groups ideas
• 2014-2015 Calendar
• Markers
• Journey Descriptions: It’s Your World-Change It, It’s Your Planet-Love It, It’s Your Story-Tell It or use this summary.
• Use the Badge Explorer to let girls check out their options.
• 2014 Summer Camp Brochure
• Program Opportunities Book: Remember that events change each year so you will have to revisit this in the fall to make plans final.
• Information about highest awards if you have Girl Scout Juniors and above.

1. Debrief the past year: Talk about some of the fun things that you did this past year in Girl Scouting.  Was there anything they wanted to do that they didn’t get to?
2. Brainstorm: Hang large sheets of paper with the below titles around the room then take them through each topic letting them brainstorm ideas.

• Awards and badges: Talk about the different Girl Scout Journeys available to girls and use the Badge Explorer to help girls find topics that interest them.
• Take Action and service:  How would the girls like to connect with their community?  They don’t have to choose a project now, they just need to save some time in their schedule to investigate, plan and implement a project.
• Trips and outings:  Where do they want to go this year?  Are there places they need to go to help them earn a badge or learn a new skill?  Is there a trip that would compliment their chosen Journey?  Are there other Girl Scout events in the community, service unit or council that they would like to attend with their sister Girl Scouts?  What about summer camp?
• Traditions and holidays:  What are some of their favorite Girl Scout traditions?  Are there traditions that they would like to learn more about like Girl Scout Thinking Day?  Are there other special holidays they would like to observe like Women’s History Month?
• Logistics:  Where should they meet?  Is this location still working for the needs of the troop?  How will the troop share responsibilities like food, snack and supplies?
• Money Earning and financial literacy:  How will the troop earn money to support their projects?  How will the Girl Scout Cookie Program work into their plans?

3. Decision Making:  After gathering all of the ideas on large paper, allow the girls to vote on their top choices. Now you will have agreed upon activities from each element of a troop experience.  Everyone will have an investment in helping these choices come to fruition since they provided input. Using the calendar, have the girls place their choices on the calendar.  With younger girls, the adult may have to do the calendar scheduling, but don’t underestimate the girls input even at a young grade level. 

Engaging Girls Through Gardening

The weather is getting nicer and many people are heading outside after a very long (and cold!) winter. Gardening can be a great way to get girls outside and learn about plants, how to care for living things and where their food comes from. There are many ways to engage girls and work towards Girl Scout badges and Journey awards through gardening.

Ideas to use with girls:

• Visit a garden and pick homegrown fruits, vegetables and other foods. Then take what you gathered and create a tasty recipe to try. Homemade salsa, pizza, salad and vegetable soup are great choices!
• Plant a garden at your home, meeting place, school, local park or any other place in your community (be sure to ask permission first). Ask the girls what kinds of seeds they would like to plant, how big the garden should be and who will take care of it. Talk to the girls about what plants need in order to grow healthy and strong.
• Visit a local farm. Talk to the farmers to find out what it’s like to be in that line of work and how they impact their community. Ask if the girls are able to help plant or harvest their crop.
• Invite a florist to come to a meeting and teach the girls about different flowers. Then spend some time creating “seed bombs” to give to people in your community.
• Learn about the financial aspect of growing your own food. What is the cost of planting, harvesting and eating your own food versus the cost of getting it from the store where preservatives, packaging and store costs are included? This is an especially enlightening activity for older girls!

There are a lot of ways that gardening activities can be linked to Girl Scout badges and the It’s Your Planet-Love It! Journey.

• Daisy Friendly and Helpful Petal
• Daisy Use Resources Wisely Petal
• Daisy Make The World A Better Place Petal
• Brownie Snacks Badge
• Junior Gardener Badge
• Junior Flowers Badge
• Junior Simple Meals Badge
• Cadette New Cuisines Badge
• Senior Locavore Badge

Honor Your Leader – April 22

“My purpose…to go on with my heart and soul, devoting all my energies to Girl Scouts, and heart and hand with them, we will make our lives and the lives of the future girls happy, healthy and holy.” –Juliette Gordon Low

Dear Leader, if you are reading this, you hold an honored place in history as an inspirer who leads young women onward in the pursuit of this thing we call life. You are creating a return on investment, of which your life will only begin to see the mark of your efforts. Be honored. 

Dear Parent/Guardian, if you are reading this, you already know that your daughter is the benefactor of the time, talent and treasure of an adult volunteer who cares enough about her to spend countless hours teaching, listening, planning, learning and sacrificing in order to build courage, confidence, and character into her. 

Dear Girl, if you are reading this, you know how much your Girl Scout leader(s) mean to you, and to the troop. You share in this special bond with the adult who is teaching you, along with your family, to become your best self. Your leader(s) care about you, and have become sisters with you in the Girl Scout Movement.

Together, let us take some time to honor the gift of our adult volunteers during Leader Appreciation Day. Whether large or small, a gesture of gratitude is the mark of a Girl Scout. On April 22, be considerate and caring and a sister to every Girl Scout!

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Honor them in a special ceremony.
• Make a donation in their name.
• Design a special thank you card or certificate.
• Nominate them for a formal award.
• Present a small token of appreciation.
• Cook a potluck meal in their honor.
• Create a photo collage of the girls in the troop.
• Submit a story of how the leader(s) have impacted the troop or a girl in the troop to the regional Girl Scout Center or local media.
• Create a troop memory book with each girl’s picture, favorite Girl Scout activity, and autograph.

Pump Up Your Service Projects!

“The work of today is the history of tomorrow, and we are its makers”. Juliette Gordon Low

Girl Scouts has a long tradition of doing service projects. Why not take the opportunity to take your project to the next level? Service learning is an amazing way to increase awareness of social issues, broaden perspective on diversity issues, develop civic responsibility and enhance critical thinking.  In Girl Scouting, we also refer to service learning projects as Take Action projects.

Service learning and take action projects don’t have to be complicated. Basically, it is adding in learning about a problem in the community and why your project is important. To learn about the five steps in service learning (investigate, prepare, act, reflect and demonstrate), check out Girl Scout resources at this link: GSWO website.  You can also simply do a Girl Scout Journey.  All Journeys have this process built right in.

Where do you start? Spring is a great time to get involved in your community in a variety of ways. You could try:

 Earth Day – April 22, 2014, will focus on green cities, mobilizing a millions of people to create a sustainable, healthy environment by greening communities worldwide.  Instead of doing an Earth Day clean up, start working on the It’s Your Planet-Love It Journey and help the girls connect Earth Day to greater global causes.

Global Youth Service Day – April 11- 13, 2014, is the largest service event in the world! This event celebrates and mobilizes the millions of young people who improve their communities through service.  Help the girls in your troop choose a Take Action project that helps them use their new knowledge and skills from recent badge work or a Journey experience.  Use the five steps listed above to complete the service learning cycle.

Arbor Day– April 25, 2014, is a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees.  This is another great way to connect girls to It’s Your Planet-Love It Journey.  Use this day as a kick off for this Journey or participate as a next step after earning the naturalist badge for Girl Scout Brownies through Ambassadors.